Chameleon
by Novoux
Summary: "But I didn't request you this time, Ren. So tell me, why are you here?" Ren wakes at the hospital in Sei's body to meet the one and only Izaya Orihara. To which he owes a favor to the cold and calculating red, gold, and green sort of chameleon.


They're outliers.

Not that he isn't grateful for everything he's been given. Sei's body is the fingers that tap together in physical therapy when he tests the weakened muscles and Aoba gives those encouraging smiles of his. Each day brings more progress of learning to live in another body without acting like a dog. Sometimes he does and when Aoba catches him on it, he's grateful and politely excuses himself. Hearing Aoba's laugh is reassuring when he knows he makes mistakes and even when he apologizes—_it's okay, Ren—_the numb feeling of doing wrong doesn't stop creeping up the back of his skull. Only to itch the scratch that isn't there but sometimes it tastes like saltwater like the medications he remembers through the IV in his arm when he's in the hospital. But that's a long time ago and Aoba (doesn't like to remember) says not to worry about it too much. Cheerful and optimistic as always, Ren isn't sure how Aoba can be forgiving enough for every mistake he makes. (It's just a mistake, Ren. Don't worry about it.)

Skin still feels itchy when it pulls tight in physical therapy. Exercises from tapping his fingers—_Sei's _fingers don't feel like his—to walking up and down the stairs. He doesn't mention it to Aoba, though, when he would rather not make him worry. It is the least he can do for taking everything he has and then asking for more (is impossible) seems like too much. He can make do with the red blood in his veins and the gold of _Sei's_ eyes and the green of grass that hits his feet when he and Aoba explore the island a little further. It all doesn't seem fair when he takes everything he has for granted and nothing he can do is to repay the favor. So it feels itchy and uncomfortable and despite the urge to do or say, he won't. It's not fair to Aoba or Sei when they have done more than enough for him. However, they aren't the only ones he is indebted to.

In the bizarre twist of waking up in Sei's body the first person he sees is not Aoba. More surprisingly, he doesn't know who it is.

"I was told you were being pulled from your coma today," red eyes gold voice dripping with—_who is he—_something else and foreign when he speaks the dialect and green is nowhere to be found. "But I hadn't expected for it to happen so soon. Aren't you lucky?" Instantly the voice in his ears and the image of red eyes and pale skin don't look native or remotely similar to what Ren knows or has seen. Any fashion trend—he smells like cities. Smoke and lights and blood. All the more reason to clench and tense his fingers which have no strength and the blood starts to rush when he's confused and won't admit that he's nervous being alive in a different body.

"Oh, but I haven't introduced myself yet." He steps closer and those gold eyes flicker to him and they don't move when Ren challenges back when it's the best he can do. A solid black card with silver letters in decorative scrawl procures from a fur-lined sleeve and the writing gives Ren a blurry headache. "Orihara Izaya. Why don't you tell me your name?" The card moves to the bedside table underneath a collar that Ren doesn't notice is his until he watches the pale hands slip underneath with a card. Foreshadowing something Ren doesn't like the feeling that curls in his new stomach in his new skin when Izaya gives him a caustic smirk. A smile being torn and pinned into a sneer that's not friendly at all—danger is what he smells like with eyes like stop signs. A warning, clearly.

Ren wants to glare but his eyes feel heavy and strange with a blaring headache behind his retinas. His lips press in what is supposed to be a tight line but he fumbles with the lack of control and everything feels too foreign. Where is Aoba—did he forget and leave—in this strange new world? "But you can't speak, can you? I already know. No need to try just for me." Izaya chuckles as if telling a joke that isn't funny and Ren is confused and uneasy from the strange behavior. He hates the smell of burning smoke and the smile that is too convincing to be kind. "But I suggest, Ren-san," he leans in over Ren and there isn't a time more when he wishes he could push Izaya away and get out of this place. "That you learn to. You see, you owe me quite a favor." Then he leans back just as he closes in and his face is inches above Ren's with eyes glittering like danger. A god of destruction and torment and lies is what Ren can simply conclude when he's being lorded over like a toy. Not even as a dog has he—met with such a strange being that has an air of falsified godliness.

His lips press and move when he can't force them to stay still. Izaya watches him and the feeling is more than unnerving when red eyes bore into his and it is more that he's seeing into Ren rather than seeing him. But the gold voice doesn't match when it is polished smooth and left untarnished by the taint of smoke coming from Izaya. Feeling ill, he keeps watching Izaya and the expression—green around the gills—comes to mind when his stomach churns in protest. "You see, Ren-san, I've paid for a big favor that has kept you here in this hospital. While I wasn't the one to find you in the ruins of that monument, the rest has been of my decision. But you should know now that I don't do favors without payment. The ones who found you owed me a favor, and you're my payment." He doesn't like the tone Izaya has when his eyes gleam with dark glee as if examining Ren like a new toy. "Think about how you want to repay me for your life, Ren-san. I'll be waiting to hear from you when you leave the hospital." Izaya then steps back, pulling a strange green object from his pocket and sliding it onto the bedside table next to the collar. Ren feels the urge to growl when he sees the display of dominance—he _knows_ it is—but all he can do is stare at red eyes that glimmer like pools of drying blood.

He can't trust him. "This is a cellphone. My information is already programmed in it as your Coil will not work with my phone. Learn how to use it and give me a call, ne?" Izaya distances himself but he's still too close and the crawling itch of blood simmering beneath Ren's human skin is roused at the gold tone of Izaya's voice. Words are too cunning (clear, sharp, risky) and crisp to be comforting and Izaya doesn't care for the appeal of being nice. No play pretend when he already has informed Ren of why he's here and there isn't much that he's willing to let on with a mute pale-flesh human being. Izaya doesn't bow when the faded smile returns to his lips that are red and not pale like the rest of his body. Pinkish really, but they look red when Ren sees the color too much and his head starts to spin. Green and bile slips into his throat when he can't muster the strength and coordination to choke it back down.

_Danger, danger._

"Take care of that body of yours." Izaya doesn't seem at all concerned when his eyes are staring too far into Ren's and the wolfish smile grows when he sees gold eyes narrowing at him. Perfect. "I paid for it. And I can easily break it if you keep me waiting for long." With a concealed laugh and red challenging yellow in an amused glance over the green coming from the window outside of fresh growing grass—springtime. Time for change.

Ren doesn't let his guard down when Izaya leaves but his eyes keep mixing colors in blurry sights when he can't focus as Izaya slips out the door. He does remember that Izaya is quick and fleeting and changing too quickly from threatening to dangerous to unknown. Ren's eyes slip shut after he gives in to the demands of sleep despite the unknown amount of time he's been sleeping. On the back of his eyelids colors print and he wonders if it's an uncertain sign of danger to come.

Red, gold, and green.

Like a chameleon.

* * *

It feels like years when in reality it's only days later that Aoba comes to visit. With everything bleary and hard to recall Ren doesn't mention meeting Izaya until Aoba sees the green cellphone and goes to touch it. Until Ren remembers too quickly and the red eyes burn into his thoughts with no name and a forgotten face when he asks Aoba to leave it be. Considering the first abuse of trust on his mind Ren wants to apologize when Aoba snaps his hand away and apologizes. The rest of the time until checkout makes Ren nervous with guilt when Aoba continues on, chattering away while they wait and on the way back home with wobbly feet and like a baby bird. And the moments he stumbles and the ground rushes to pull him under as if expected punishment—Aoba catches him. They pause, take a moment for Ren to regain his breath and tell himself that his eyes are gold, not red. That's what Aoba reports when Ren asks only a few blocks from home and patches of green grass and growing plants remind him of the hospital.

Days go on with Aoba guiding Ren along. Physical therapy prescriptions and a side of pain medications for the headaches that Ren's doctor thinks he has when he doesn't know the reality of them. For the longest time it takes a month of green grass and walking up and down stairs and to the market with the gold of Aoba's eyes encouraging him along in order to move on his own.

Already he tries to figure out a way to apologize and promise to repay Aoba but as usual, Aoba laughs and shakes his head—_no, it's fine, Ren. I'm glad you're okay—_but the uneasy tinge of guilt starts to bubble in his chest with a human heart that pounds slower than normal. Sometimes he thinks he's going to suffocate from how slow it is when after physical therapy, it races quickly as if running away from the red blood that pumps in and out. Aoba teaches him the trick (not a dog or something similar when Ren forgets at times) of measuring the pulse of blood by putting two fingers to his throat and counting. He knows this from his days as a dog but he won't tell Aoba that. Aoba tries hard enough to make him smile as it is.

As the weather starts to warm up and—has it really been a month?-Ren's memory starts to get better with the headaches fading, they go outside more often. Aoba excuses it as exercise for Ren and while Ren doesn't mind he wonders what Aoba thinks about everything. New body that his AllMate is in that used to be his twin's and then the AllMate form lying on his old favorite pillow, curled up and sleeping for a small eternity. He doesn't like to look when the blue doesn't fit in well with gold eyes and notes that things are _different_ now. Not that he doesn't notice when Aoba sometimes frowns when he sees Ren's AllMate form sleeping in the corner and then watch and curse to himself quietly when Ren stops what he's doing and stares too. An out-of-body experience, except it's not a dream and dreams are a different realm Ren doesn't know until now.

It's hard to understand why he's thinking of it—red, gold, and green—when he closes his eyes to sleep and Aoba isn't any of the colors. Maybe his eyes are a light gold but they aren't the strange tone of dark and almost too yellow to be real. In a way the gold is colored heavy with smoke and draped in solid tones of almost mocking. Aoba's eyes aren't that gold and maybe he's just getting things wrong. It happens in this body of his when he holds things in his mouth on accident or sniffs new things. Green might be the outside middle of spring in Midorijima but while grass is a strange feeling on bare feet and smells sweet, he doesn't comprehend why he thinks of it when he's on the cusp of sleep and too tired to wake up. Most of the time he forgets to remember so he doesn't ask and prepares for the next day of living as a human with Aoba.

The green cellphone in his pocket stays there. A black card tucked into it he doesn't know about and he forgets why it is there or what it is called in favor of not wanting to see red flashing behind eyelids at night. Aoba calls them nightmares and asks Tae about it, who is only just getting over seeing Ren in Sei's body and she clicks her tongue, asking (too many) questions. Not about the first day of being awake in a hospital and unable to speak with searing red into his eyes when a gold voice remarks over the green of outside and his hospital gown that Ren's eyes are gold. When Aoba repeats it the phantom of a voice echoes in his ear at the same time and buzzes like a fly he can't swat away. Too frustrating to not think about but not enough to cause concern to Tae and Aoba.

They've done so much for him and he can't possibly ask when he should be grateful. And he really is. There are just too many questions and flashes of three colors (why is there no blue like Aoba or the ocean?) that haunt him more than he wants to know and maybe it's for the same reason he suppresses the memory unconsciously now of the first day of waking up. He doesn't tell Aoba that he wakes up several days before Aoba sees him again when the memory is locked tightly in his brain.

Clear, Koujaku, and somehow Noiz come by every once in a while to visit Aoba and ask Ren how he's doing. Beni is suspicious at first and Clear is startled far too much for normal surprise that it takes explaining after Aoba's recount of the story until they're both calmed down. Clear pouts over never petting Ren again which is expected. But when the gloved hand moves to his hair for the first and last time, Ren flinches away and resists the urge to snap at the careless fingers that pull back. Aoba gives him a look and Noiz looks intrigued—he can tell they're thinking different thoughts with a darker path for Noiz—when Aoba asks if he's alright and then tells Clear when Ren nods stiffly that Ren still isn't used to being human.

Noiz asks in an impolite tone at the time if Ren is infected with something, thinking on mechanical terms and Koujaku whacks him with the back of his hand and tells him to be nice. A fight erupting because of him between the two (Aoba says it's not his fault when he separates the verbal spat) makes his stomach turn and his mouth dries. It doesn't feel right.

One week into a second month while Aoba's at work (usually he waits for Aoba to come home, occupying himself somehow with magazines) he hears buzzing in his pocket that at first startles him. Then he feels for the buzzing, grasping the green item in his pocket that looks like a round box and with warmed metal from inside of his pocket. The strange thing keeps buzzing while he looks for a switch to turn it off, irritated by the confusing buzz that rumbles in his fingers when he tries to keep it in his grasp.

Green is the unusual color and where he has it from he's not sure unlike the star necklace Aoba gives him at the one month anniversary for "being awake", as Aoba puts it. So there shouldn't be any special meaning behind it besides the marked difference of color as he usually doesn't care for any color preference while Aoba prefers blue. The only thing that reminds him of green is Noiz and he hasn't seen him since last week when Aoba insisted they go and check on him.

Clumsy fingers slip under the metal crease they find on sheer whim and they press, popping the lid of the green item open and for a moment he thinks that he has broken it and tries to figure out what he has done wrong. A black card slips out and past his attention and lands in between his legs. Not thinking about any colors or strange comparisons or nightmares that have started to cease when he hears—_"It's good to hear from you, Ren-san. I was almost worried you had forgotten about me."_—liquid gold draped in a dark veil he can't see through and the sense of danger starts at the base of his spine. Slowly, now. Wait until he remembers but not yet until his brain clears the fog for him.

"What is this?" Ren asks and it sounds ridiculous or at least unnecessary when he speaks. But between asking who is talking to him and why the green box vibrates and suddenly he hears a voice, he settles for not thinking it entirely through. As if on cue the same voice gives a chuckle and for reasons he can't grasp the hair on the back of his neck starts to rise and his shoulders tense as if still a dog. He doesn't want to remember those days when he looks at the sleeping Ren on the floor and not the hands of Sei's Ren holding the box that talks. Is it an AllMate?

"_Oh, I'm hurt. You don't remember me, Ren-san?" _The voice sounds like gold filled with air within its strange tone of attempted calm—almost lilting in the accent of Midorijima—and filled with sarcasm. Play pretend and green colors that make Ren shake his head and hold the box to his ear where the voice comes from at the bottom of the electronic device. It doesn't look like an AllMate that he knows of.

"Who is this?" Ren asks and he hears a sigh. It isn't his fault, he argues to himself when he forgets his own thoughts, that he doesn't know what's going on and Aoba isn't here to explain. Which makes him feel worse and the guilt starts to stab insistently because he is so _needy _and he hates it. The only thing he really can—yet.

"_It's rude not to answer a question when asked, Ren-san. But I'll let it go...for now." _Pausing when the low voice speaks (not as low as his even after the change) makes Ren's skin start to crawl with red blood picking at the flesh holding it together and tightly coiling around his muscles. _"To make it brief, I'll spare you the wait and tell you who I am. See if you can fill in the blanks?" _It is almost as if the voice asks him to look at the card because it reminds him of the deep black sliver that fell from the box pressed to his ear. His fingers retrieve it when the voice speaks. _"Orihara Izaya, Ren-san. We met in the hospital. Although you had just woken up from your coma, so I don't expect you to remember much. What can you tell me, Ren-san?"_

Black standing out against his fingers in the edges of a business card Ren turns it over, reading but not registering the silver ink in elegant script when his throat starts to burn with the dry sting of his eyes. It isn't enough to make everything clear but he sees red eyes and after he thinks he has finally rid himself of the strange nightmares they start to invade when he's awake.

Red eyes, red blood, red lips—_who is he?—_and this is making too much sense all at once but not enough to understand which makes the blooming headache between his eyes worse. "Orihara...Izaya-san?" He tests and for some reason the taste on his tongue is metallic and burning like blood (which hasn't been there since waking up through a nightmare of biting into his tongue) that coats his taste buds. Something is wrong with this conversation and when the clenching feeling of his stomach doesn't stop it only confirms his suspicions. "What are you...?" Words fail him now of all time to articulate the thoughts moving too quickly to catch so strings slip through his fingers and he finds himself almost feeling stupid for not mastering his control yet.

"_The one and only." _Izaya is haughty in confirming the fact but his voice makes it sound of no importance. _"Do you remember what I told you, Ren-san? I'd hate to repeat myself." _And yes, Ren thinks he does—hospital, waking up and danger in the presence of a man who says that Ren owes him—and his thoughts start to snap together from the disjointed mess and slow. Why is this man involved with saving him? And where how what why—too much to think about. Slow down, calm down, don't clench the box too tightly with fingers and feel the pulse of a quickening heartbeat.

Why is he nervous?

"You are the one that told me I owed you a favor." Ren clarifies and his voice, as much as he tries to make it, does not sound confident. This is unlike him and the other voice laughs as if it's expected. He catches his tongue on more words that come to mind that remind him too much of the strange smirk that is condescending instead of a supposed friendly smile. Red stop signs saying _danger, danger._

"_Ah, so you do remember. And you have my business card, yes?" _Ren glances down and the card bites into his flesh. Warning signs and he doesn't bother to see this when he doesn't know the game he is playing unintentionally. This is only the beginning and—_"Think of me as a sponsor. I paid for your medical expenses because you are the favor I was returned, Ren-san. Now it's your turn to pay me back for my services. Although a life is a difficult price to pay." _It comes too quickly for Ren to calm down the sting of a headache. Red eyes danger signs gold color of eyes _Izaya _tell him and the liquid gold of a voice that's supposed to be charming and a green cellphone in a green hospital gown with bile slicking up his throat. Not including the side of black business card and silver lines that form the name Orihara Izaya.

It reminds him of chameleons. "I am grateful for what you have done for me, Orihara-san." Ren starts and he isn't sure where to step on this game board. So far he is beyond confused and his fingers clench tightly when he hears the voice laugh and remembers the first day of waking up when his mind forces the lock to break and it floods in his thoughts. Fleeting, but enough to make his mouth dry and salty. "But I do not know how to return a life in the form of a favor."

Izaya chuckles again. _"Please, Ren-san. Call me Izaya. No need to be formal when we'll be quite familiar with each other as time passes." _The threat isn't as veiled as it may be intended to be but Ren registers it with the flashing signs of red and glinting red eyes that are dangerous and cold. Calculating, when he thinks about it hard enough. _"But you can keep your life. You're more useful to me alive than dead." _So that is what this is. A pawn and Ren has been sucked into playing a game for his life—his eyes narrow; of _course—_when he doesn't mean to assume the worst but this voice of an unfriendly face leaves no room for kindness and dismissed formalities. _"__And I don't doubt you're wondering what to do, Ren-san, being indebted to me. Why don't we start small so you can adjust? It's a lot that I'm asking for and I'm patient enough if the cause is worth it."_

This isn't good. Alarms blaring in Ren's ears but he _can't tell Aoba _because it isn't fair to involve him in whatever this is developing to be. It isn't good and he knows it with the sour feeling in his stomach and he almost chokes on saliva that struggles down his throat. Making the decision to play along (is the only thing he can) is what he has to do. His sense of honor, beyond the measure of intimidation Izaya is playing, means to bother him until he returns the favor.

It is the least he can do. "What would you like for me to do, Izaya?" The lack of formality feels strange when the name digs into his tongue like a scar of a fresh wound leaking heavy metallic blood that streaks down his mouth. He knows this won't wash off no matter how hard he tries to forget.

"_Eager, aren't we? Well, I appreciate it. For now, call me whenever you remember. If I call you, you answer. You're still recovering and you won't be of any use to me as you are now." _Izaya instructs and Ren can see the glimmering gold haughty smile and the bared teeth with a false greeting. _"Do you understand, Ren-san?" _Asking to accept the challenge and the only thing is to force the slick salt down his throat and breathe quietly. Calm _down_. Expect the unexpected and this man is only a man. He needs to repay the debt or it won't leave him alone because it isn't like him to refuse being truthful. Unlike the feeling of deceit the voice on the other end gives wrapped in gold and layered with a veil of smoke. Like a magic trick and Ren maybe won't be the one to disappear. For what reason is not clear. This—Izaya speaks in circles.

"I understand, Izaya." Ren clarifies and he nods to himself, sealing the fate of another life and what he thinks make his heart rate rise and the blood pushes against the artery in his throat. "Please consider extending the same formalities and calling me by my name, if we are to be as familiar as you say." Izaya pauses on the other side as if considering the humble request and Ren is starting to think he's overstepping the boundary that has been tentatively forming since the first words out of Izaya's mouth.

"_A pleasure to conduct business with you, Ren."_ The twist of his name and the gold leaks into Ren's ears—it doesn't sound artificial this time but with an almost _purr _he thinks that he must be hearing wrong when Izaya doesn't laugh. Perhaps he needs more sleep (but his thoughts won't leave him alone not tonight and certainly not for the longest time) and this sounds like the end. _"My schedule, unfortunately, is very strict right now. So this is goodbye for now."_ He doesn't wait, as if expecting Ren to not answer when his voice catches in his throat and his mind is buzzing with numbness. All the swirling thoughts and questions and the adrenaline pushing through his veins to remind him with a dour realization that this body is because of the man with red eyes gold lies and green bile.

He doesn't sleep that night.

* * *

The phone calls start with maybe once or twice a week. Ren mostly listens while Izaya talks about the most random things from the curiosities of Midorijima (which Ren tries to answer as little as he can) and marvels almost genuinely—hard to tell with the mystery that he comes to know as Izaya—at the peculiarities of AllMates and Coils. And then deal with the jabs at Aoba's fashion sense (_blue, _really?) that come and go like the swells of nausea that are actually the crawling sensations down the back of his head and trickling to the base of his spine like prickling twitches beneath the skin. The churning acid in his stomach starts to die down when Izaya proves himself to not be at all intimidating which Ren will never admit to being intimidated in the first place.

But what strikes him as unexpected is when Izaya introduces himself to Aoba.

After what he thinks is keeping a secret for another month Izaya has to be the unexpected red eyes and golden voice that only seems to lie that suddenly appears at their door. What is more off-putting is that Izaya knows where Aoba and Ren live and knows that Aoba has the day off. Ren doesn't like this and in a moment forgetting he's not a dog he thinks his ears flatten until Aoba pats his head and politely invites Izaya in. The red eyes against pale skin, black hair, and the winning smile that looks so fake make Ren uneasy. Especially when Izaya catches Ren's gaze and the corners of his mouth lift beyond a traditional greeting.

"So, where are you from, Izaya-san? You don't look to be from around here." Aoba asks when he doesn't ever get the hint of danger exuding from Izaya that makes Ren stand across from him when he sits at the table. Gracefully and silent in his movements—a prowler, hunting and his eyes only flicker to Aoba for a fleeting second—and he takes his time observing Ren like an insect. Ren challenges his gaze with narrowing eyes and his lips twitch when he forgets politeness and Izaya only broadens the smirk behind the mask.

"I'm from the mainland, Aoba-san." His voice is stranger than it is on the phone (more melodic, more addicting) with the intentions he has carefully tucked behind the facade of his body language. "Midorijima has been on my mind for a while, and I've decided to come visit and see how you and Ren are doing." Ren glares at the table when Aoba turns around and serves tea. _Of course _Izaya is interested in Midorijima. Ren has gathered that much from the past month of conversations and Aoba's concerned expression from the nights of not sleeping when red eyes and his own gold ones and green grass on the outside push into his mind and he hears the same laughter. Except now Izaya has a face to a name and it's hard, Ren notices in concealed confusion that he expresses as mutual indifference, to keep what Izaya calls himself an informant out of his head when his thoughts are unguarded at night. But he can't say that.

"You told me before that you helped with Ren in the hospital." Aoba mentions and Ren freezes with rigid muscles tensing in his chair because he hasn't said a word about this. It's not off the table that Aoba would want to know why he doesn't have any hospital bills for Ren and the feeling makes Ren even guiltier. "Thank you for that, Izaya-san. I don't know how I could repay you for keeping him alive."

Izaya's reaction is too calculating. Too perfect and it makes Ren's blood start to boil. The thick pulse in his throat that doesn't register when Aoba bumps his forehead against his and tries to calm him down doesn't work anymore. Izaya's voice echoes in his head even after the phone call ends and Ren tries to calm the pressure building in his blood and the green of spring through Sei's gold eyes doesn't help either. "Don't worry too much about it, Aoba-san. Ren and I have been discussing how to approach returning the favor." He doesn't explain. Ren doesn't expect him to and for whatever reason Aoba lets it slide and Ren knows that Aoba is much smarter than most credit him for. Most likely examining the possibilities and Ren cringes when he hasn't told Aoba anything.

"You've been talking to Izaya-san, Ren?" Aoba turns to him and sits, motioning for Ren to sit which he grudgingly does beside Aoba. Pretends to ignore the amusement lighting up in the red of Izaya's eyes that analyze more than he knows. Ren has to nod stiffly with a noise of confirming Aoba's question while his eyes stay drawn to the table. It's best not to think about the gold color when he's faced with red.

"We have been for quite some time now." Only a month, Izaya. "Don't worry about it. Your Coil doesn't work with the cellphones from the mainland, so I gave him a cellphone to contact me with." Aoba nods in understanding and the smile is back on his face which Izaya returns with one that makes Ren's skin crawl. His voice makes his stomach hurt and his head buzz with heat. Figures if Izaya can lie so easily that it flows from his teeth without much of a second thought. Aoba doesn't argue when he hears that he's been left out of a conversation—this is supposed to be important, Aoba, _please—_but he only nods in understanding, probably under the spell of Izaya's charm. That's how it works; Ren narrows his eyes at the table and refuses to look up. He won't allow himself to be charmed by the man responsible to holding him against a debt to be paid.

But Aoba has some faith left for Ren to grasp onto. "You didn't let me know, Ren? Why not?" Aoba suddenly turns the conversation directly on Ren and while he doesn't mean to sound accusing Ren can't stop when his head lowers in guilt. It isn't his fault—he has to keep it a secret up until now—and the frown on Aoba's face only makes him accept the fate he pushes onto himself. All of Izaya's doing, he thinks bitterly before forcing the hateful thoughts away. He can't lower himself to such a standing.

"I did not think it was important to involve you, Aoba." Ren tries to explain but it sounds even worse when his words have the potential to make Aoba think that Ren is dismissing him. "It is a debt to Izaya-san that I own and I did not want to concern you." There is the truth written plain in his words and he sees the quirk of Izaya's lips. It makes his stomach lurch and cave in on itself a little more.

"Ren," Aoba says and his voice is considerably lower than when he is normally happy, "you should tell me these things. I know you don't want to bother me, but you worry me when you don't let me in. Don't hesitate to let me know these kinds of things." Ren nods in understanding when it's the least he can do. "Besides, I want to help."

"That's quite the proposition, Aoba-san." Izaya suddenly interrupts and his words curl in the air like smoke tendrils. "But would you want to do so much for Ren? I'm sure he would rather you not bear the weight of a simple debt to pay." He's not refusing and if he _dares _to think that he's going to drag Aoba into this then Ren will show him exactly where the door is.

"It will not be necessary, Izaya-san." Ren suddenly interrupts before Aoba can say a word and his fist hits the table hard enough to make a sound when he doesn't mean to let himself get carried away. "Aoba, you do not need to concern yourself. You have done enough for me now." _Don't get caught in this, Aoba, this man is a liar_ stings at his lips but Aoba gives him a concerned glance while that infuriating smile doesn't seem to fade from Izaya's face. Aoba probably wonders why Ren regards Izaya with such animosity, but he can't know. It's best if he doesn't.

"It's best I get going then, Aoba-san, Ren." Izaya suddenly stands and with tea untouched he gives no sort of bow or indication of politeness. Aoba doesn't seem to mind but he asks why Izaya has to leave so soon. "As it wasn't my intention to intrude on your free time. I only came to see how you both were doing, but I believe we will be seeing more of each other in the future." Accepting the challenging stare from Ren, red eyes reflect the meaning of understanding the silent warning of _back off_ and like the good little guard dog he is, Ren makes his point clear. Before he turns to leave a black card with silver letters—the one in Ren's pocket that burns a hole through his jeans like the green cellphone—is proffered to Aoba, but Ren quickly blocks the move with an open palm.

"We will not be needing that, Izaya-san." Ren speaks in a lower tone and masking a growl of his human voice he waits for Izaya to retract his arm while Aoba is utterly confused as to why the air is thicker than blood. "I have your contact information. It is in your best interest that I show you to the door." Ren is certainly past passive aggressive and maybe Aoba hears it and starts to ask but Izaya graciously accepts the offer, giving his goodbye to Aoba while Ren follows paces behind to the door.

"I'll be seeing you again, Ren." Izaya's voice lowers to only Ren's hearing. His eyes slip to heavy lids when he looks up at Ren and the change is completely different from the professional atmosphere with Aoba around. Now he exudes more danger in those glittering pools of blood that make Ren's skin crawl and his (_Sei's_) skin feels like fire. More than ever does Ren feel anger surge through his veins and while it isn't right he can't stop the burning compulsion to grab Izaya by the throat and make sure he never returns. He can deal with Izaya's attempts to manipulate him, but Aoba is not worthy of such degradation.

"I am aware of this. Goodbye, Izaya-san." Ren shuts the door in Izaya's face and he hears laughter trickle through the door.

"Ren?" Aoba shuffles over and his face is marred with worry. Ren hates how he makes Aoba anxious over him for his own problems (and this is why he can't say) he has brought upon himself. "Are you okay?"

For the first time, Ren shakes his head so mechanically that Aoba doesn't notice he moves at all. The sound of laughter echoes and rings in his ears like it has been in every nightmare of red, gold, and green.

Izaya is a chameleon, he reminds himself.

* * *

Somehow Aoba insists to go to the mainland four months later and the first time they meet Izaya when he's suddenly chased by a blond in a bartender's suit. As curious as the sight is Ren doesn't bat an eye (a lack of empathy for an apathetic man) when the vending machines fly to Aoba's amazement and Izaya asks them to meet at his office. From there it's a downward spiral of when Aoba meets the blond named Shizuo and the two make quick friends while Ren wants to tell him not to forget that—Izaya remarks on how cute it is that a monster and an innocent human get along so well when Ren makes the move to visit Izaya's building. Not at his request this time which he doesn't want to think about but he thinks he starts to understand why Shizuo despises Izaya.

Although he isn't surprised when Ren shows up (why is it that Ren gets the feeling Izaya expects him to?) and the secretary points to the door where Izaya waits. The third time they visit Ikebukuro Aoba asks if he can spend some time with Shizuo and catch up with Ren later while Ren excuses himself to speak to Izaya. No calls or texts have rung on his green phone for over two weeks and the red blare of traffic lights and yellow warning signs guiding his green phone to where Izaya lives there is a certain itch he can't scratch. Aoba understands and he tells Ren to play nice when he doesn't realize the gravity of his words when Ren walks him to Shizuo's apartment where the two agree to meet. Ren feels a twinge of what he denies as hesitance and plays it off as simple concern. He's happy that Aoba can make friends that aren't scheming informants, as put in Shizuo's words, but he still worries. There is nothing to worry about (Aoba reassures him countless times without any indication of Ren's thoughts) because if anything happens, he has Ren and Shizuo.

The thought comforts only for less than a second.

"Where's your Aoba-san, Ren?" Izaya's tongue curls around his name like drops of honey that dribble down his lips when he licks away remnants from the gold honey on toast Ren eats at breakfast and—stop that. This isn't about fantasizing which is new in this body that is not his and he finds that his needs are confused with wants. From low requirements to high maintenance he can only feel guilty no matter how many times Aoba reassures him that it's okay to be human and apologizing is silly. It isn't when he knows that he's doing wrong when the dreams (that's what Aoba calls them) are behind his eyelids and they tease and turn when he is helpless to stop them.

The flesh of his body holds the pounding blood and the stammering heartbeat when he finds himself awake and panting to himself, unable to wake Aoba to ask why this is happening to him.

"He is with Shizuo." Ren replies in a voice that still doesn't match the natural sound of robotic monotone. It is higher in pitch despite the low tone it possesses and it doesn't feel right. Neither does the way he feels as if he's staring into red eyes instead of politely keeping eye contact. Gold and dirty tarnished with the filth of how he views the red eyes and the red tint of lips that look more human than his.

At the mention of Izaya's enemy he makes a face that contorts into a frown and a growl without sound and Ren wonders why he never makes any facial expression for him instead of someone Izaya claims to hate. A tongue darts out (like a chameleon)—quick and rubbing at the red flesh—and Ren forgets himself when he stares and apologies murmur in his head when he thinks Izaya notices. He knows by now that nothing escapes Izaya. Not even the visions in his head at night or the panting that keeps him up when he sees red, gold, and green and suddenly other parts of him that are too human and too real start to feel when they're not supposed to.

"The devolved idiot? I figured as much. Aoba-san is too trusting for his own sake." Izaya looks up from his desk and a devilish smile graces the lips that Ren sees too many times a night to ever perfect until now. Why he wants to—not that he does—is confusing and frustrating and another part of being human. "When Shizu-chan is such a beast. I'd be careful if I were him when he can't play nice with regular humans." A red apple lies on Izaya's desk and his thoughts recall back to the one conversation two months ago that Izaya's favorite fruit is red apples.

_Little to speak for one's self, Izaya. _Ren swallows down the retort and refuses to nod. Instead he stares at the floor or the buckle of Izaya's pants—and then tears his gaze away when he realizes what he's doing. Why is he recalling all these..._things_ (he spits the word_ information_ like poison in his thoughts) for the one man holding a debt over him and maliciously gleeful when he notices Ren's anger? He doesn't see any other colors but the same as Izaya's eyes that are watching him with a selfish interest of observation in mind. Ren knows what he does and who he inflicts his boredom upon. From Shizuo, it's not hard to figure out that his suspicions are too accurate not to be true. But the same is the strangest reaction of hotblooded nightmares and waking up—stiff and muscles aching.

"Why are you here, Ren?" It is clear the conversation isn't going anywhere with Ren standing in front of Izaya, almost sheepishly when his eyes (not bad to stare at and definitely better than any brown ones of ugly monsters) are transfixed with the floor. Although he doesn't have much time to waste, he can connect the dots if Ren plays along, like he usually does. And there are times when he doesn't, which intrigue Izaya to no end. So this question is meant to catch Ren off guard when he is usually the one taking the initiative.

Ren glances up and the look in his eyes is still apologetic until he schools his expression and Izaya can see (confusion, anger, frustration, is that—?) that it isn't meant for him. How touching when he doesn't care for sympathy. "You usually request me, Izaya-san." Back to the formalities which Izaya has tried so hard to get Ren to drop. He doesn't like the title addressed to his name when he wants to make Ren squirm on a closer level of address. Hot anger red is what he's looking for within the gold of (in)human eyes which fascinate and annoy Izaya when he doesn't know how Ren survived the move to Sei's body. He still can't get much from the stiff lips which isn't fair considering how nice he has been to Ren. Really, gratitude for everything he does and Ren only plays on his own terms. Following along, Izaya notes darkly, is what is easier to do. Ren doesn't react when he wants him to.

Which isn't a bad thing. "But I didn't request you this time, Ren. So tell me, why are you here?" Izaya probably knows the answer already between bitter breaths and the catches on his teeth and when Ren thinks about the burn of biting his lips he has to shake his head to forget forbidden images. This cannot be right: he is not meant to use Sei's body so selfishly and for the one person that confuses and angers him it can't be anything more than despise. The same reason he wakes up now—not from nightmares when they—and Aoba can't know that Ren's blood is reacting against him in his dreams and creating problems. He can't sleep without knowing what will happen in his thoughts.

Izaya can hide but Ren is starting to understand how to read past the expressions. He only tells himself that he can't because this is Izaya and he doesn't want to admit that he studies the reactions coming from the informant. The severity of Izaya's coldness only lasts as a facade (easy to see) to keep others pushed away. Ren knows more than he is willing to share but doesn't want to confirm. However, the only thing that usually keeps him from keeping his calm composure of reading Izaya is the—

"Ren? I believe I asked you a question." Ren watches the movement of Izaya's lips and doesn't understand how evil can sound coming from a mouth when it's all trained to make others think it is. He should know better and he does at times. This preoccupation with watching what he shouldn't and thinking of what he can't has kept him on edge and tensing the muscles of his arms as if preparing to coil and strike. But he isn't as learned in reading Izaya, so it's all guess and check that is harder to confirm. With Izaya, he isn't sure anyone knows.

Red hot surges against the pulse in his throat and he remembers what Aoba teaches him when they leave the hospital. Two fingers twitch to measure the pulse but he knows it is hammering against the skin as if attempting to rip through the artery and leak on the floor for the one and only Izaya Orihara to see. Most likely not to understand the gold in his eyes that Izaya reminds him of and why he hates staring in the mirror to remember red and the green _envy _which he despises as the human part of himself when he can't behave like a normal human being and forget about Izaya.

Nothing makes sense. Not when Izaya strides up to him and suddenly they are inches apart and Izaya's breaths are hot unlike the feel of his skin which is always cold and span across Ren's face. The three colors that have stuck and buried deep within Ren's head flash like warning signs and he can't take waiting for them to disappear when the pull starts with the first meeting. The dangerous honey tone of lips and eyes and the sly prowl of Izaya's walk rebounds in his head against his skull.

"I'm here for what I believe I deserve, Izaya-san." Ren suddenly growls and the feral part is from frustration when he can't tear his eyes away. This has been going on for too long and too fast and too easy because no matter what Izaya is a chameleon in the ways he keeps changing and trying to get away from Ren. That makes it between _them_. Sudden aggression should make Ren ashamed of himself but for deducing well enough he knows that he won't play the game of humility with Izaya. It won't let him win.

"And what would that be—!" Izaya thinks he has Ren where he wants to play his game and Ren's willing to, until Ren surges forward and a hand wraps around a shoulder and grasps the back of his head. Lips press to his with hot insurgency because the game is in _Ren's _favor and he doesn't remember the first time the game switches and stumbles out of his hand. And the feeling of lips moving against his (clumsy but cute when _this _is perhaps what he's been waiting for long enough) and Izaya decides to tease and respond with subtle movements against Ren who tightens the fingers in the informant's hair. An arm moves around his waist and he supposes that he has to move his arms so that one hand can successfully press against the carotid artery thumping back to prove that Ren is more calculating than he has given him credit for. Fur brushes against Ren's skin and it reminds him of the first meeting in the hospital.

They're outliers. And having intelligence in different stances of intellectual measure provides the challenge. The gold eyes are only added aesthetic and glimmer when Ren is angry and closed off to the rest of the world. Just like Izaya is, but more tightly controlled and prone to playing with others.

And now it's Ren's turn to decide where the game leads.

Not that he minds.

* * *

_When Izaya meets Ren, many things can happen. Look out, Aoba. None of them play nice. Hence why it's the most dangerous game.  
_

_Now to hope I wrote everyone correctly. Ah, I try._

_Thank you for reading._


End file.
